by Ben Ormstad
More button presses clacked in my ears as Lily wrote commands on the screen, then finished them off with a hard smack on the Enter-key.
I took a step back as my designated cocoon-coffin slid out from its shelf with a loud bzzzz. A second before I thought it would tip over and fall down, it stopped. Next, a sliding door opened in the ceiling above it, and a huge robot claw descended. The claw grabbed the VR-pod and brought it all the way down, placing it perfectly on an extruded platform next to the control surface. Opening its grip, it let go of the pod and mechanically moved itself out of the way, idling about five meters above us.
Fuck me with a popsicle and call me Lolly, I heard my wife again. Being trapped half naked in that cramped little metal casket, mentally removed from my body, hooked up to a virtual reality I couldn’t even leave until finishing a quest – unless I wanted to risk severe physiological or psychological ‘complications’. Yeah, well. Shit. In theory, it should have made all my happy-juices flow, but it was actually pretty damn terrifying. Jesus H. Christ.
“Awesome, right?” Lily said, her eyes practically bursting with enthusiasm on my behalf.
“Yeah,” I lied. “Super-awesome.”
5
I stepped to the VR-pod and inspected it. About two meters long, perhaps one and a half wide. Constructed by smooth, rounded metal, tapered at each end like a Kinder-egg. The top and bottom seemed to be two equally sized halves, with the exception that the bottom part was fastened to a metal frame functioning as legs.
On the upper part of the top half I saw an embedded screen and a keyboard, currently not active. Following the surrounding edge, I couldn’t find any holes that allowed air to flow in or out, or anything resembling a ventilation system at all.
“How does air circulate in this thing?” I asked.
“Oxygen mask,” Lily said, busy clicking buttons on the control surface behind me.
I turned to her. Arched my eyebrows. “Come again?”
“As there’s no airflow inside the pod, a mask covering your nose and mouth delivers oxygen,” she answered, still focused on the monitor.
“No airflow… at all?”
“Exactly. No oxygen in the pod while sealed.”
I nodded and faced the cocoon-coffin so she wouldn’t see my face twitch. This just keeps getting better. I wanted to pepper her with questions about what would happen if the oxygen mask broke, or what if the electricity suddenly cut, or what if something happened that threw me out of the game and I woke up in the pod while nobody was working and I was stuck in a sealed metal box almost ten meters up in the fucking AIR?!?
But I didn’t.
Drawing a breath all the way to the bottom of my lungs, I held it while relishing in the fact I at least could breathe right now, before slowly letting the air seep out again. It’ll be good, I thought, staring at the cryostasis chamber-looking sci-fi-metal-kinder-egg-thing. It’ll be completely perfect.
I heard her slam the Enter-key behind me. The upper half of the top part of the VR-pod separated and opened with a mechanical tshhhk-sound, revealing my new home. I half expected smoke to whirl out while the opening track of X-Files played in the background.
I peeked over the edge, not knowing what to expect. But it didn’t look too bad. Like a mix between a hotel bed with super-comfy pillows and a luxurious recliner chair. I stuck my hand in and touched the material. Soft, yet firm.
Lily came up beside me. “What do you think?”
“Weeell,” I said, “at the looks of it, you know… if I’m gonna be locked in an oxygen-less, sealed metal casket ten meters up in the air with no way to escape, then this is probably as good a place as any.”
She roared a hearty laughter and jokingly hit my shoulder multiple times. “That’s the funniest thing anyone’s ever said in here. Oh my god, Dex, you’re hilarious!”
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing with her, even though I’d almost rather be home with a hungry katana nearby.
After about half a minute, she calmed down, shook her head and combed her fingers through the purple ponytail. “Okay, so the panel you see on the right interior wall here, can be opened like this,” she said, flipped a locking mechanism and swung open the panel, revealing the oxygen mask, some tubes and other cable-looking things. “As you can see, this is the mask. In addition, you won’t be doing any physical eating while in-game, since you’ll obviously be laying here. Therefore, our system feeds you all the nutrition your body needs intravenously. To simulate reality as closely as possible, you’ll still feel real hunger when your physical body needs food, which is when you must eat in-game. When our system registers you’re eating in the game reality, it will activate and feed your body the nutrients it needs through these tubes.” She looked at me, smiling. “Makes sense?”
Always considering the worst-case scenario, I had to ask: “Sure, but what happens if I for some reason can’t find anything to eat?”
“The system has a built-in safety function, so if you haven’t eaten in a certain amount of time, and the system registers severe loss of body fat, it will automatically feed you.”
But not until I’m severely losing body fat, then, I thought, but kept my mouth shut. At least I wouldn’t die of starvation.
“Don’t worry, though, there should be plenty of food resources throughout the game world.”
“Cool,” I said. “Will I be able to contact you while playing?”
“Well, yes and no. Only in designated areas in between quests,” she said while opening a second panel above where my head would lie. Carefully, she pulled out what looked like two square bits of plastic, each connected to a set of uniquely colored cables. “We’ll glue these sensors to each of your temples, which will feed the game’s data stream directly to your brain. This way, each of the different lobes of your brain, processing its own specific part of your experience, will receive data to work with.”
Overloaded on information, I had to backtrack. “Interesting, but about our in-game communication. How specifically would I contact you in between quests?”
Lily let go of the sensors, leaned her weight on the pod and said: “In order to not upset the artificial intelligence controlling the non-player characters, NPCs, who are completely convinced the game reality is real – and we want it to stay like that, I might add – we’ve had to send some of our own people in to act as outside communicators, so to speak. Therefore, disguised as either occult mediums who have direct contact with the ancient Gods, or – if you find yourself in the more high-tech parts of OVERTAKEN ONLINE – they’re disguised as visiting aliens who can contact their home planets through their own special communication technologies. In other words, only players know about this, and if any NPC asks questions, you must tell them you’re either seeking divine guidance from the ancient Gods, or need to transmit important information to the aliens.”
I blew air out through half-closed lips. “Wow, that’s pretty… intricate. Why not just have an open connection so we could communicate regularly, like through a microphone or whatever?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” she said, resting her hands on her waist. “It’s not supposed to be easy to have outside contact. It should feel like contacting someone from another dimension, because, you know, that’s actually what you’re doing. The contact stations are few and far between, so you probably won’t go through the hassle of contacting us unless there’s something extremely important you need to address.”
Scratching my head, I thought about all the crap I potentially could end up experiencing. “What if I get lost during a quest, mission or whatever?”
“You could try opening an inter-dimensional channel and send me a message, and I’d ask one of the developers to program in some form of helpful message or item you could find nearby. This would then be added in real-time.”
“Sweet! And how would I open a channel like that?”
She winked at me. “You must learn that in-game. Also, there’s no guarantee you’ll always get the hel
p, either.”
Of course not, I thought grimly. But it was a challenge. And I liked challenges. Ish.
“Oh, one more thing,” she said, waving a well-manicured finger in the air. “Every player, after having created their character, is randomly assigned their first quest. During this first quest we will in fact have direct contact – at least as long as you’re not in a battle or in the middle of something else important. That way, I’ll be able to help you or answer any questions.”
“Okay, that’s cool. I like that,” I said, a stroke of relief relaxed my tense body. Then there was nothing else to wait for – I could ask her anything while going through the first quest. I cleared my throat and said: “All right, I’m ready.”
6
Trying not to breathe, I flushed the toilet – twice – before it cleansed itself completely of my mega-dump. I washed my hands for a long time, before using the antibacterial dispenser next to the liquid soap. Feeling like my stomach and intestines were scrubbed bare of any food remnants that had been stewing, I left the toilet in a hurry, not wanting to be hanging around when the next poor fucker dove into the hellish smelling purgatory I’d transformed the bathroom into. Lily had warned me it would most likely be a brutal affair when she gave me the tiny, seemingly innocent pill with laxative properties. I’d simply laughed and said it would be good to get the shit out.
I grimaced as I passed a guy heading for the bathrooms. Thought of warning him, but decided against it. Shit happens. Rounding the next corner, I test-smelled my clothes but noticed nothing too bad, so I continued to Lily where she awaited me by the VR-pod.
Looking up at me from the embedded screen and keyboard on the pod, she smiled knowingly. “How did it go?”
“A little rough around the edges,” I said, suppressing a smirk.
“I know, right!” She laughed. “Well, now that you’re… clean, you can go ahead and undress. But leave the undies on.”
Even after a year of not giving a fuck about diet, training or anything at all, I still was a pretty fit, muscular dude, so I knew it shouldn’t bother me, but I rarely felt confident enough to enjoy undressing in front of women I had just met – nor in public places. Pussy, I thought, shrugged it off and jumped out of my clothes quicker than Lucky Luke draws. I threw them over a chair and stood there wearing only my black Klein, paying close attention to Lily and whether or not she took a sneak peek. When she didn’t – at all – I was both relieved and somewhat disappointed.
“Great,” she said, as neutral as a doctor. “Please get comfy in the VR-pod. I’ll be right back.” She left.
Taking a deep breath, knowing everything soon would change forever, I first placed one foot inside the cocoon-coffin. The chair pillow, mattress, or whatever it was called, felt super-soft against the naked ball of my foot. Stabilizing myself by gripping the edge of the pod, I lifted the second foot in as well, before sliding my body all the way in. Holy wowsers! Almost as soft as a sensory deprivation tank. Once the VR-pod closed, there wouldn’t be enough space for me to sit up – it was constructed for laying down. Either way, the softness couldn’t have been any softer.
“Aaah,” I whispered, letting all the built-up tension and uncertainty melt away. Even elevated ten meters in the air, this would be perfectly perfect. I’d soon be long gone, mesmerized by OVERTAKEN ONLINE.
Lily returned, stood over me and looked down, smiling. She always smiled. “Not too bad, is it?”
“Nope,” I said and returned her smile, happy to have her as my merge-assistant.
“Great. So, first I have to inject a serum into your bloodstream, which will enable your brain to properly process the data received from the sensors. Give me your hand, please.”
Growing accustomed to the feeling of skepticism that bubbled up every single step of the way, I ignored my fearful self and gave her my hand. No questions asked.
“Thanks.” She straightened my arm and stuck me with a syringe. The serum – whatever it was – created pressure in my vein as it pumped through and evened itself out. After finishing, she wiped off a drop of blood with a white cloth.
Almost instantly, as she removed the syringe, a sleepiness descended on my mind. Eyelids feeling heavy, I yawned.
“The serum helps you relax, inducing a mild REM-like state, which will aid in the acceptance of the game reality,” she informed.
Drowsiness made it difficult to talk, but I forced out a few words: “But this isn’t supposed to be a dream, is it?”
“Correct,” she said and leaned down over me, close, while pulling out the oxygen mask from the panel next to my head. Her exposed neck was inches from my nose. I bathed in her peachy perfume, deeply enjoying the sensation of my head sinking deeper and deeper into the soft pillow. “It just smooths the transition between experienced realities. You’ll be wide awake and aware as soon as OVERTAKEN ONLINE starts. Lift your head a bit,” she said, then placed the mask over my mouth and nose, pulling the strap over my head so it wouldn’t loosen. “Try inhaling deeply a few times with both your mouth and nose.”
I did. Like breathing a mild mountain breeze of freshly clean air. Barely being able to keep my eyes open and staying focused, I said in a voice that sounded ridiculous: “Nice.”
“Good.” Lily pulled down the plastic sensors from the panel above my head. Squirted some kind of gel onto them, before rubbing them against my temples until they stuck. Immediately after, a spike of bright, crisp awareness washed through me, and I thought I was back and awake again, before tumbling headlong into sleepy-land.
This time everything faded rapidly, and I didn’t understand what Lily was doing anymore. Something with some cables around me. That’s it. Couldn’t focus my thoughts.
“Okay, Dex, we’re done here,” she said, her silky voice reaching my ears in what seemed like cushioned bursts of mellow sound-waves. “I’ll close now, and we’ll talk again during your first quest. Good luck and have fun!”
I tried to say something, but my mouth was numb. In fact, my whole face had disappeared.
Claustrophobic fear knifed me in the gut as she closed the cocoon-coffin’s lid. But I didn’t have time to mull it over before not only the world turned black, but my entire mind got sucked into darkness.
The last thing I noticed was the robotic claw grabbing the VR-pod and feeling a slight vertigo as it lifted it in the air.
7
Only a short blip of time elapsed from the moment my awareness disappeared into the abyss of unconsciousness – as caused by the injected serum administered by Lily – and until I popped back into existence. Or self-awareness, I should say, as there really weren’t any exterior ‘existence’ to know of. Merely an eternal nothingness.
I saw no body, felt none of my limbs. I couldn’t even bring my attention to the crisp mountain-airy oxygen from the mask strapped to my face. And not even a hint of fear tickled the back of my mind at the thought of being artificially separated from my body, trapped in the cocoon-coffin, extended ten meters up in the air with no way of getting out.
Amazed and amused, I spent a few seconds checking to see if I could force my consciousness to somehow dig up the sense of my body laying in the VR-pod – or perhaps whether I could feel the motion of the robotic claw still lifting the pod and shoving it into its designated space in the pod-shelf.
Nope. Nothing.
Incredible, I thought, the state reminding me of the few times I’d been able to meditate so deeply I had lost all connection to my body, merely experiencing myself as a single point of consciousness in the Void.
How can they induce a state like this withou–
My train of thought got abruptly cut off by a speck of light that seemed to be a hundred miles away. With a thundering, exploding sound effect and incredible speed, it zoomed up in front of me.
OVERTAKEN ONLINE
The logo could’ve been as huge as the Death Star, or as tiny as MicroMachines – with no other forms or objects to measure it against, I had no idea.
&nbs
p; But it was awesome. Oh my Godz, how awesome it was.
The logo swooshed away, and I thought I felt my non-existent stomach tingle at the speed and sensation of falling the opposite way of it being removed.
Yet again the thundering, exploding sound effect played as more words zoomed into existence:
Developed by
Virtuality Inc.
This is so cool, this is so coo–
Yet again my thoughts got interrupted. But this time everything changed around me…
Space.
Thousands of bright stars of differing sizes everywhere. I glimpsed blue and green nebulae and intensely yellow and orange supernovas in the far reaches of space, millions of light-years away – all painting a breathtaking backdrop for the light red planet covering most of my vision. Half of it illuminated by the deeply orange sun giving it its reddish color, and the rest steeped in a dark shadow, clothing the planet in night for its inhabitants.
Not even a minute in, and I was utterly blown away by the immensity of it all. No entertainment I had ever experienced could even begin to compare to this. It felt like I literally floated in space, watching the planet Godmadriguhl in front of me – in real size.
The scene’s camera angle rotated slowly around the huge, red planet, while the music changed to dark, running trumpets and violins, coupled with deep, almost tribal-sounding bass and drums. I noticed pockets of green and blue, though, hinting at areas where trees and vegetation still grew, plus a few oceans and seas scattered around – though most of the globe looked barren.
